Tomorrow Morning
by practicallyaprincess
Summary: Rachel tries to gather the courage she needs to talk to the pretty blonde girl who comes into her coffee shop every morning.


Quinn used the tips of her fingers to push her hair back as the wind blew and made loose strands of it fall in a curtain of golden blonde in front of her face. She spit a stray piece from her mouth, then used the rubber band on her wrist to tie it back. Coming to New York from Lima sure was different in more ways than one, but Quinn noticed that the biggest difference was the weather. In Lima, she was used to stepping out wearing a light jacket in the middle of September and possibly getting away with wearing open-toed sandals. In New York, however, she needed a fully buttoned up trenchcoat and possibly earmuffs.

"Thank you," she politely mumbled to the woman who held the door open for her.

Head down as she thumbed through her wallet, Quinn stumbled through the door and left the bitter cold of outside in exchange for the toasty warmth of the coffee shop. She felt the heat hit her cheeks and it made a chill creep up her spine, but she sauntered over time the same spot she had stood in for the last two weeks. One thing about New York that she came to like was the routine she was beginning to settle into. Every morning before class, she'd wake up, get dressed, head to the coffee shop, then head down the block to her 10 a.m. It was a simple routine, but it was a routine nonetheless and for a girl who never had much consistency in her life, to Quinn, it was a big deal.

She slipped a twenty dollar bill from her wallet before stuffing it back into her purse, and lifted her head as she waited for someone to take her order. She wasn't surprised when she saw the girl behind the counter wearing her usual bright red shirt with a gold apron and snapping the lid onto a glass blender. Her shirt was form-fitting and clinging to every curve, her blue jeans were neatly buckled around her waist, she wore clean white Vans, and her chocolate brown hair fell in gentle, silky locks to the middle of her back. She was the same worker that Quinn has seen for the past thirteen days on her morning coffee runs, so she figured she must work the morning shifts here.

Today was the day Quinn was going to look at her nametag, if she was wearing one.

Behind the counter, Rachel locked the lid on the blender and lazily pushed the button to chop up the ice she shoveled inside of it. Once the ice was completely crushed, she popped the cap off again and dumped the light brown mixture into a plastic cup. Like a perfectly trained robot, she snapped a lid on top, put a green straw through the hole, then picked up a Sharpie so she could scribble a name on it.

"Caramel delight, no whipped cream, shot of espresso." She handed the man in front of Quinn the cup and gave him a friendly, strictly-business kind of smile. The man mumbled a quick "thank you" to Rachel, scooped his cup up, then headed for the door. Rachel sighed as she waited for her next customer to walk up.

As soon as she looked up and saw the girl next in line, she glanced at the digital clock on the register and grinned as she realized that she was right on time. Every day, for the past two weeks, this same girl came into the shop at precisely 9:22. It was 9:23 now, so she was about a minute late, but on time nonetheless. And though she didn't have to because she had her order memorized, Rachel put a professional look on her face and opened her mouth to speak anyway.

"What can I get you?" She asked. Quinn tucked the pieces of her hair she missed in the ponytail behind her ears and opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Rachel spoke again. "Tall iced coffee, four creams, three sugars, extra ice, whipped cream and a mocha drizzle on top?"

Quinn stood with her arms folded neatly across her chest, the words she was going to speak frozen in her throat as they were stolen away from her. An innocent, slightly amused smile crept across her face and she tried to form a new sentence, but her eyes narrowed instead. For the first time in the thirteen mornings she spent at this coffee shop looking at this girl, she finally took a good look at her. And the good look made her cheeky grin turn genuine.

"Actually," she laughed. "I want a caramel drizzle on top."

"Oh!" Rachel raises her eyebrows and couldn't help the way her teeth showed through her smile. "You're changing it up on me?"

"I like to keep people guessing," Quinn winked at her.

Rachel felt her heart thundering in her chest and anxiety starting to take over. She never planned on what to say to this girl when they had an actual conversation. She never thought she'd get this far. Too nervous to say much else, Rachel laughed and nodded her head just once.

"$3.36." She held her hand out and let Quinn lay the money in her palm. She made Quinn's change so quickly that she stumbled and dropped a penny, but she recovered without much embarrassment. "I'll get that made for you."

"Thank you," Quinn nodded.

She carelessly stuffed her change into the bottom of her purse and walked down the waiting line even though she was the only person in line. She tilted her head and watched Rachel skillfully make her coffee without much thought. She wondered how long she had been working there to become so skilled.

In truth, Rachel had only been working at the coffee shop less than a month and she only did it as part of her work study program. It wasn't long, but she was beginning to fall into her own routine. Even after just one week, she was so bored with her job that she, in fact, planned on putting in her two weeks' notice and trying to find a job more interesting. That was three weeks ago, though. That was before a beautiful, blonde stranger with the most haunting hazel eyes and lustful full lips had wandered into the shop. If she had quit, she wasn't sure if she would ever see her again… and that was enough to make her stay.

Rachel picked up the Sharpie again and took her time drawing on the side of Quinn's cup. She turned back towards Quinn and handed her the cup. "There you are," she said, taking an extra moment to admire the way her eyes looked emerald green under the right light.

"Thank you," Quinn replied with contrived sweetness in her tone.

When she grabbed the cup from Rachel, her fingertips grazed the back of her hand and it almost felt as though she was electroshocked. Her eyes snapped up, she met Rachel's, and decided to let her fingers linger for a few more moments. The chemistry felt like electric currents pulsating through both of their bodies. When their eyes met, the corners of Quinn's lips turned up into a smile and though she didn't want to, she slowly pulled her hand away so she wouldn't be late for class.

"H-Have a nice day," she stumbled over her words as she secured the coffee cup. She turned around to leave and took a deep breath when she did.

Rachel rested her elbows against the counter and watched Quinn walk away with a slight somberness to her mood. She enjoyed seeing Quinn; she always did. But just as much as she enjoyed seeing her come inside and hearing her voice every day, she also hated it. She knew that their interactions would be short and sweet and once she was gone, it'd be another 24 hours before she could see her again.

Rachel sighed and let her eyes roam Quinn as she walked out the door. She eyed the way her hair fell just a little past her shoulders and blew so gently in the wind that it reminded her of corn silk. She was thin, but her body had a womanly curvature to it and she liked the way she could see her thighs, muscular and meaty, from underneath her blue dress. She was arguably the most beautiful woman she had ever seen and she was stuck making her coffee.

She watched Quinn long enough to see her raise her coffee cup up to take a sip, and just as she began to turn around to go back to work, she heard her voice again.

"Hey!" Quinn walked briskly back to the counter and demanded Rachel's attention as she held out her coffee cup.

Rachel stood up straight and waited to hear her complain about something, because that was usually the only reason customers ever came back. She raised her eyebrows to let Quinn know she was listening.

"What, did you memorize my order but not my name?" She held out her cup and motioned towards the black scribbles that's we're on the side. The scribbles were practically illegible, but Quinn was able to make out that it was a circle with five rays sprouting out the sides to make a sun. "You can memorize my entire order, but not five letters?"

Rachel grinned to admit the guilt of not writing her name on her cup, but not the guilt of forgetting her name. She hadn't forgotten her name. She knew that her name was "Quinn." She told her that on the first day she came into the shop and she had been holding onto it ever since, and she didn't think Quinn noticed that for three days, she stopped writing Quinn's name on her cups and started writing something new every day.

"I didn't forget your name… Quinn."

"So then why haven't you used it?" Quinn took a sip of coffee and smiled so wide that Rachel caught a glimpse of her blindingly white teeth. "Yesterday it was crown, the day before that it was a smiley face, and now it's a sun. Does my name change with your moods?"

"Something like that," Rachel smiled back at her.

"So you draw pictures for all your customers?"

"Only the ones I like."

"Oh…" Quinn raised her eyebrows. "So you like me? Is that why you've been calling me 'sunshine' and 'smiley'?"

Rachel blushed, clearly embarrassed. "...So you've been able to decode my pictures and figure out the nicknames I give you…" Her eyes dropped away from Quinn's. "I'm not as smart as I think I am."

"Well," Quinn couldn't fight off the smile on her face. "I haven't actually been able to decipher the crown you drew the other day. I don't know what that one means."

"That's just one you're gonna have to figure out on your own." Rachel picked up a wet washcloth and began cleaning dried caramel from the counter. "Let me know when ya figure it out."

"And how will I do that?" Quinn shifted her weight to her other leg and lifted her chin slightly, giving Rachel a challenging look. For the first time in a long time, she felt a flutter across her stomach and the overwhelming urge to smile.

"I'll be seeing you tomorrow, won't I?" Rachel stopped cleaning and looked at her again. "9:22 on the dot?"

"Something like that," Quinn nodded in agreement. "See you tomorrow…" She hesitated a moment, squinting to look at the name on her name tag. "Rachel."

"See you tomorrow." Rachel nodded once and went back to her job of cleaning up the counters, satisfied with the fact that she spoke more than two words to her favorite customer.

It still wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to tell her that although she liked seeing her every morning, she'd much rather see her at night in a restaurant or a movie theater. She wanted to get to know her beyond the smiles that made her call her "smiley", the brightness she brought to her day that made her call her "sunshine" and the beauty and poise that made her call her "princess." She wanted more than that.

But she would take this conversation and savor it in hopes that tomorrow, she'd have the guts to progress a little further.

As Quinn walked back through the doors she entered through, she lifted her coffee cup again and admired the lopsided circle and squiggly lines that made the sun's rays.

She couldn't wait until tomorrow morning either.


End file.
